Conventional solar power systems that rely on silicon-based photovoltaic cells or panels typically contain components that are heavy, fragile, and—due to weight—costly to transport overland. Furthermore, large solar power systems, which require a high-capacity, rechargeable battery, can affect and complicate transport by air, due to time delays and expense associated with Federal Aviation Administration regulations concerning the transport of rechargeable batteries across international boundaries.
To address the weight issues, flexible, multi-purpose, solar power chargers have been developed. However, conventional solar power chargers often require numerous ancillary attachments for sourcing power to different devices or loads. These attachments can be quite bulky, heavy, and breakable and can add to the complexity and cost of the system. Moreover, flexible, solar power chargers have no fixed application, which is to say that the power they generate cannot be optimized for illumination or other purposes, and their physical form is rigid and cannot be adjusted in response to specific lighting needs.
Portable, solar-powered, re-chargeable flashlights and lanterns have a relatively compact, fixed volume. However, they also include numerous breakable parts that can fail or be damaged in transport and/or during rugged use. Like solar power chargers, the physical form and light output of portable, solar-powered, re-chargeable flashlights and lanterns cannot be modified or adjusted in response to specific lighting needs.
One problem associated with these products, however, stems from their design as singular, non-related devices, which does not offer the user the benefit or advantages of functionality associated with a distributed system where units may be used individually and in digitally-linked networks of multiple units.
Indeed, as the existing paradigm of centralized distribution—and its corollary, the singular object appliance—becomes less sustainable, the benefits of using long-term, renewable solutions for power and lighting distribution becomes increasingly important. A new paradigm is required to provide the flexibility of performance that can be achieved in distributed systems of power generation and lighting.